2021 wheat Harvest, #1
Harvest 2021 happenings
IT’S HERE – 2021 WHEAT HARVEST!
During the next few weeks stay tuned for my perspective of what harvest is like on John’s Farm, how the harvest is coming along including the great, good, and not so super, and what harvest was like in our family yesteryear.
While harvest comes around year-after-year is always different…weather, soil health, seed, inputs, cultivation, insect pressure, and what seems like a million decisions effect harvest outcome. The earth is prepped for a crop, seeds are sown, growing plants are monitored, and then, finally, comes the harvest – it’s a year-long process of time, effort, and dollars to get to the point of reward however great or small.
We engaged the combine Thursday afternoon and have been whacking away ever since. Young Farmer handles the machine the first 12 hours of the day; the old Farmer manages the operation during the day, hopefully works in a short afternoon nap, and handles the dark-til-midnight combine driver assignment.
From One Farmer to the Other: Young Farmer is taking the wheel while Farmer John is moving on to other tasks and BoDozer, Farmer's youngest brother, is anxious to take a ride in the 'farmer seat.'
The morning begins with maintenance of trucks, tractors, implements and combine – check all oil/liquid levels and grease, check tire pressures and bearings, fuel, inspect belts and chains, weigh and unload trucks that were filled with grain by the late-hour harvester, and hold the official team meeting to determine a plan-of-action and assignment-of-duties for the day. Plan is defined as ‘proposal’ and on this farm we push that definition to great lengths; an expected thunderstorm, machinery breakdown, or equipment failure (today it is the diesel fuel pump on the storage tank) can turn the plan inside-out in a moment’s notice.
When the combine rolls out of the field the first day of harvest my mind goes back to photos I've seen and stories I've heard from my grandpa Andy and my dad; I'm sure they had plans along with all the aforementioned interferences that changed their plans.
My grandpa Andy harvested with a threshing machine; talk about hard, heavy and hot!! It took a crew to gather in the crop, set the processes in motion until grain was realized. Women played a huge roll in harvest because it took a huge supply of food to keep a crew fed, energized to the tasks. My grandma told me she made Russian pancakes (crapes in today's terms), sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, stacked 6" high and carried them to the crew for an afternoon snack. Can you even imagine?
Harvest A Century Ago on John's Farm: we work this field but certainly harvest looks much different than the threshing machine, horse-drawn wagons, and men and women gathering bundles of wheat like this crew which my Grandpa Andy managed.
First self-propelled combine for my dad and grandpa. Times changed, equipment changed and my dad and grandpa purchased their first self-propelled combine, a Massey Ferguson, in 1952. I wonder what Andy thought farming was coming to compared to his threshing machine?
(Continued)
And so harvest continues … well, sort of!
Farmer’s family came to John’s Farm for the weekend; youngest brother, Bodozer, might be a farmer too someday so he got in several ‘rides’ with his Big Bro!
When Your Big Bro is A Farmer: You wait with him for the opportunity to drive/ride the combine.
Yesterday began earlier than usual as John made the beef/wheat delivery run through much of central Oklahoma leaving Farmer and Farm Manager in charge of the home front.
I’ve often said cattle are much smarter than we give them credit – they have internal calendars. For example, a heifer will decide to have her calf on Christmas Eve, a bull will jump the fence just as you are about to carve the Thanksgiving turkey, and a calf will find the smallest hole in the fence to exit the pasture just as you are about to go out-of-town for the weekend. I really should have been surprised when a neighbor called at sundown to let me know a few calves have wondered from our pasture into his yard.
The pasture was a 30-minute drive from our headquarters; it was dark-thirty as we neared the neighbor’s home. The calves had wondered out of his yard onto the road. They recognized the sound of John’s pickup so they followed along as we drove to the nearest pasture gate, opened it, drove in with calves kicking up their heels in excitement to be ‘home.’ The challenge was locating the broken wires and then repairing the fence. That’s where headlights become multi-purpose 😉
Fixin Fence by the Light of the ... Headlights! I've often heard 'by the light of the moon' but when moonlight is not prominent headlights get ya' what's needed, along with leather gloves and fencing pliers. Thankfully, mosquitos were already asleep!
Calves where they belong, fence fixed, and we were home shortly after 11pm.
Everyone was eager to begin another day this morning; a brief team meeting and everyone scattered to begin their tasks. In only a short time Farm Manager uncovered an equipment breakdown on the combine, John’s tractor shut itself down in the field for no apparent reason, and the grain storage auger plugged as Farmer was unloading a truck.
This…..this truly is harvest; happens every year! So…harvest continues, just in a different mode than one would hope but there is always tomorrow!
I may have clapped and shouted 'Hallelujah" when the combine operator sent me this photo stating, “all that is left of this year’s wheat.” With only a few equipment breakdowns and the guys holding up through the scorching temps, dreadful humidity and late night hours this chapter, 2021 Wheat Harvest, draws to a close. Successful in many ways, not so successful is a few ways but safe, sound, and done – we are THANKFUL.
It's All Wrapped Up - Harvest 2021 is in the books, close the chapter and BE THANKFUL! Photo Credit: Josh Weinbender
When one chapter closes another begins and so it was last evening as the young Farmer rolled into the field to initiate soil cultivation, breaking up the wheat stubble and eliminating the grass that is trying to make itself known. I'm partial and admit it but this is a fact - Farmer is one of the best equipment operators in these parts and you’ll notice he has an eye for photography, too. As the sun was setting a storm was brewing – he snapped it!
Sun Sets as Storm Simmers: "...get your fields ready..." Proverbs 24:27 Photo Credit: Farmer, Kale Downs.